The UNEP Treaty Ban on Mercury: Pros and Cons.

[The paper introduces a concise version of, the treaty of UN that proposes to ban the use Mercury. The paper also highlights the properties, applications, advantages and environmental Hazards of Mercury.]

I.INTRODUCTION

The hot environmental news across the world in the mid- October of 2011, was a UN treaty proposal to ban the use of Mercury. Many researchers and Scientists across the world expressed their reservations and opinions against this treaty. Even a Highly Educated person would wonder of all the hazardous nuclear elements still present on the face of the earth, why choose the harmless element mercury? Mercury to most of us, is still a laboratory stuff; mostly seen in various meters. When there are so many hazardous chemicals of mass destruction still with, many a developed and developing nations, mercury should be least one on any anti-war activists mind. A survey by USGS says, China is the world’s largest producer of mercury; no other country produces even a quarter of it, one wonders whether the treaty is Anti-Chinese? If that was true; the Chinese would have vetoed it long before, they didn’t, it appears even the Chinese are serious about the treaty.

II.MERCURY [1]

Mercury is known to us as the only metal, which exists in liquid form even in room temperature and pressure. Mercury rarely exists in its original pure liquid state, it mostly subsists as compounds and Inorganic salts. It can be bound as a Mono-valent or Di-valent compound; Di-valent compounds can be organic or Inorganic. When mercury combines with carbon; it becomes organic like –Di-methyl-mercury, phenyl-mercury, ethyl-mercury and methyl-mercury. Most of the Inorganic mercury are called salts and include compounds - mercuric sulphide, mercuric oxide and mercuric chloride. Mercury can also exist in natural form; the most common natural forms of mercury found in the environment are metallic mercury, mercuric sulphide, mercuric chloride, and methyl-mercury. Being an element, mercury cannot be broken down or degraded into harmless substances.
Mercury is a natural component of earth and is an abundantly available one. The production of Mercury is through primary mining, byproduct of refined metals, and recovery from crude refining, reprocessing of mines, and recycling from reservoirs of stored mercury wastes.
Mercury is a good conductor of electricity; electrical applications include switches and fluorescent lamps. It has very high density, surface tension and reacts to change in temperature and pressure; medical applications include; thermometers, sphygmomanometers and dental fillings. Mercury compounds are used in batteries, pesticides, biocides in paper/paints, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.
The mercuric compounds gets accumulated in the atmosphere or environment through various natural and manmade ways; volcanic eruptions, weathering of rocks, exhaust from coals and fossil fuels, industrial leaks and wastes, releases from other soil waste disposals. The manmade disposals are classified into three types- i. Releases from mercuric impurities containing materials; burning of coal and fossil fuels, Cement production and Mining of certain non-ferrous materials. ii. Releases from mercuric containing materials; Mining, Gold and silver extraction process, fluorescent lamps, Dental fillings and various medical equipments/equipments like thermometers, barometers, manometers, sphygmomanometers. iii. Releases from waste materials; Municipal wastes, landfills and cemeteries.

III. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS and HAZARDS [1].

The process of Mercury assimilation in the Environment is a vicious cycle, it continuously transferred from the Environment to atmosphere, from atmosphere to ocean and from ocean back to the Environment; Food chain to Environment and Environment to Food chain. Methyl-Mercury is compound, which enters the human food chain through fish. Methyl-Mercury tends to Bio-Accumulates and Bio-Multiples, within the food chain. Bio-Accumulation of Methyl-Mercury in a species increases over period of time, due to biotic or abiotic sources. Bio-Multiplication refers to the increase of concentration of Methyl-Mercury in a tissue of a species. Hence a older and bigger fish may be more contaminated by Mercury than a younger and a smaller one. Dental filling, skin whitening creams and soaps are some of the sources of, to which the Human Population is exposed. The wild life and other higher species in food chain hierarchy, which depends on fish like Human beings, the birds, mammals and penguins, are affected by contaminated fishes. Mercury restricts micro-biological activity and thus disturbs the food chain and eco-system.
Methyl-Mercury is a neurotoxin which may cause adverse effects on the developing brain. The compound readily passes both the placental barrier and the blood-brain barrier; therefore, exposures during pregnancy may possibly lead to a genetic disorder. Also increases in methyl-mercury exposures may cause adverse effects on the cardiovascular system, thereby leading to increased mortality. Methy-Mercury compounds are considered possibly carcinogenic to humans. Elemental mercury vapours are easily absorbed by the lungs and the body tissues oxidise them to an inorganic di-valent form. Neurological and behavioural disorders in humans have been observed following inhalation of elemental mercury vapour. Symptoms include tremors, emotional liability, insomnia, memory loss, neuromuscular changes, and headaches. In addition, there are effects on the kidney and thyroid. High exposures have also resulted in death.

IV. UNEP INITIATES.

The UNEP initiated various programs to address the issue of mercury [2] [3]; it followed a two strategy approach-GMP and INC, GMP-Global Mercury Partnership and INC-Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee.

A. UNEP-GMP- The UNEP Global Mercury Partnership [4] is a voluntary and collaborative relationship amongst various parties, governmental, non-governmental, public and private organizations. The program has the its unique [5] objectives and priorities; the UNEP-GMP has the following seven priorities-
(a) To reduce atmospheric mercury emissions from human sources;
(b) To find environmentally sound solutions for the management of containing mercury and
Mercury compounds;
(c) To reduce global mercury demand related to use in products and production processes;
(d) To reduce the global mercury supply, including considering curbing primary mining and
taking into account a hierarchy of sour
(e) To find environmentally sound storage solutions for mercury;
(f) To address the remediation of existing contaminated sites affecting public and environmental
health;
(g) To increase knowledge on areas such as inventories, human, environmental exposure,
environmental monitoring and socio-economic impacts.

The aforesaid seven priorities forms the basis for the following four objectives-

(a) Minimization, elimination and retirement of mercury from marker for strong environment

management
(b) Minimization and, where feasible, elimination of unintentional release of mercury into air,

water and Land from different sources
(c) Continued elimination and minimization of Global use and demand for Mercury.
(d) Promoting to the development of economically feasible Non-Mercury technology.

B. UNEP-INC [6] - is a committee consisting different governments of United Nations, the committee is entrusted with the responsibility of preparing a [6] draft of rules and regulations, for a legally binding instrument on mercury. The INC formulated the following comprehensive provisions to address the menace of mercury-
(a) To specify the objectives of the instrument;
(b) To reduce the supply and enhance the capacity for its environmentally sound storage;
(c) To reduce the demand for mercury in products and processes;
(d) To reduce international trade in mercury;
(e) To reduce atmospheric emissions of mercury;
(f) To address mercury-containing waste and remediation of contaminated sites;
(g) To increase knowledge through awareness raising and scientific information exchange;
(h) To specify arrangements for capacity-building and technical assistance.

To achieve the aforesaid provisions three [6] options were formulated.

i. Options for specifying the objectives of the instrument.
ii. Options for control measures.
iii. Options for provisions related to implementation.
Options for specifying the objectives of the instrument- An objective is the end goal/Aim of a mission. The first option of INC was to formulate an objective on the lines of World Health Organization (WHO) convention and other UN treaty of similar nature. The objective devised was;
“To protect human health and the global environment from the release of mercury and its compounds throughout their life-cycles by minimizing and, where feasible, ultimately eliminating global, anthropogenic mercury releases to air, water and land.”

Options for control measures, addresses the next five provisions of INC. It proposes to reduce the supply of mercury by eliminating all primary mining activities; capture, recovery and sound storage of by-product mercury and recycled mercury. The options also includes provisions to enhance the capacity for environmentally sound storage by encouraging best practices and techniques, international cooperation and trade linkages exclusively for sound storages. Prevention of new uses, subsidies and threshold limits, ban on international trade, may reduce the demand for Mercury. National policies, adoption of best techniques and practices, substitute material and products for mercury are suggested as some options to reduce the hazards of Mercury. Options for provisions related to implementation, includes Provisions to increase knowledge through awareness-raising, scientific information exchange and Provisions for capacity-building and technical assistance

V.CONCLUSION.

The Ethical stand of UN is to highly applauded, but the enforcement could be extended to other chemicals of similar nature. Rather than focusing on one single chemical, mercury, a multitude of hazardous chemicals could be banned by a single treaty. A ban would have temporary hurdles like, artificial price hike of mercury based products, Black Marketing, Smuggling and dumping of Mercury containing waste in poor countries; prevention of these illicit activities needs to be addressed. Off all its applications, the Hazardous nature of Mercury supersedes its utility; a ban on it and its compounds needs to be speedy and mandatory.

REFERNCES

[1] UNEP, Global Mercury Assessment report.2003.
[2] UNEP, Reducing Risk from mercury.
[3] UNEP, Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee.
[4] UNEP-GMP-Information on becoming a partner.2009.
[5] Overarching framework UNEP Global Mercury Partnership.June-2009.
[6] UNEP-INC, Options for substantive provisions that might be included in the mercury
instrument.June2010.